Two former managing directors of the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA) were yesterday arraigned at the Banjul Magistrates’ Court before Acting-Principal Magistrate Dawda S. Jallow.
Abdoulie Tambedou, former Managing Director and Hali Abdoulie Gai, former acting Managing Director of the Gambia Ports Authority, were individually arraigned and charged with neglect of official duty and economic crime specific offences.
Both denied the charge.
The particulars of offence against Abdoulie Tambedou on count one stated that between April 2011 and August 2012, at the Gambia Ports Authority in Banjul, being employed in the public services as managing director of the said authority, willfully neglected his official duty to protect the funds provided for the procurement of new ferries and the rehabilitation of the old ferry fleet, and thereby committed an offence.
Count two stated that Aboudlie Tambedou, between April 2011 and August 2012, at the Gambia Ports Authority in Banjul intentionally and unlawfully approved different unauthorized payments amounting to D103,943,991.64 from a loan granted by the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation for the procurement of new ferries and the rehabilitation of the old ferry fleet, caused economic loss to the Government of The Gambia, and thereby committed an offence.
The charge on count one against Hali Abdoulie Gai stated that between 1 April 2011 and 26 April 2011, at the Gambia Ports Authority in Banjul, being employed in the public services as acting managing director of the said authority, willfully neglected his official duty to protect the funds provided for the procurement of new ferries, and thereby committed an offence.
Count two stated that Hali Aboudlie Gai, between 1 April 2011 and 26 April 2011 at the Gambia Ports Authority, intentionally and unlawfully approved different unauthorized payments amounting to 1,170, 000 Euros from a loan granted by the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation for the procurement of new ferries, caused economic loss to the Government of The Gambia, and thereby committed an offence.
Defence counsel Lamin S. Camara, who represented Abdoulie Tambedou, told the court that it lacked jurisdiction to try the accused person, noting that the only competent court to try the accused person was the high court as required by law.
Even though the court lacked jurisdiction to try the accused on the economic crime charge, the court should be able to grant him bail, counsel said.
He said the accused person was already bailed, and has been coming to the court throughout his first case without being absent for a single day.
“I therefore urged the court to grant the accused person bail,” he said, adding that there was no investigation which was not completed, since the prosecution had preferred the charge against the accused person.
Lawyer Momodou Musa Drammeh, who represented Hali Abdoulie Gai, told the court that the defence was applying for bail for the accused person.
He said the accused person was a senior citizen of this country, who had rendered his services to the government for 35 years and was married with several children.
Counsel Drammeh added that the accused person had been reporting to the police regularly for the past two months, until yesterday when he was called to report to the police.
“We are submitting that the magistrate would not be able to try the accused person, but the court has the power to grant bail to the accused person,” counsel Drammeh submitted.
In response, the police prosecutor, Corporal Sarjo Sanyang, told the court that the prosecution has no objection to the transferring the case to the high court.
He added that the prosecution was applying for the accused persons to be remanded in prison custody, pending the outcome of the case.
“The accused persons were former managing director and acting-managing director of the said authority, and most of the prosecution witnesses are from the same authority. Granting the accused persons bail, they might tamper with the investigation or interfere with the prosecution witnesses,” said the prosecutor.
Delivering the ruling, the trial magistrate said the court will transfer the case file to the office of the Chief Justice for reassignment.
“I have no doubt that bail is at the discretion of the court, and count one which was neglect of official duty can be tried in the lower court, but it has been jointly in the same charge sheet; so therefore, the court would transfer both cases to the office of Chief Justice,” the magistrate stated.
